Bois Caiman

Bois Caïman (Haitian Creole: Bwa Kayiman), 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of road RN 1, is the place where Vodou rites were performed under a tree at the beginning of the slave revolution. For decades, maroons had been terrorizing slaveholders on the northern plains by poisoning their food and water. Makandal is the legendary (and perhaps historical) figure associated with the growing resistance movement. By the 1750s, he had organized the maroons - as well as many people enslaved on plantations - into a secret army. Makandal was murdered (or disappeared) in 1758, but the resistance movement grew. At Bwa Kayiman, a maroon leader named Dutty Boukman held the first mass antislavery meeting secretly on August 14, 1791. At this meeting, a Vodou ceremony was performed, and all those present swore to die rather than to endure the continuation of slavery on the island. Following the ritual led by Boukman and a mambo named Cécile Fatiman, the insurrection started on the night of August 22–23, 1791. Boukman was killed in an ambush soon after the revolution began. Jean-François was the next leader to follow Dutty Boukman in the uprising of the slaves, the Haitian equivalent of the storming of the Bastille in the French Revolution. Slaves burned the plantations and cane fields and massacred French colonists across the northern plains. Eventually the revolution led to the independence of Haiti. The site of Dutty Boukman's ceremony is marked by a ficus tree. Adjoining it is a colonial well, which is credited with mystic powers.

Morne Rouge[edit]

Morne Rouge is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the south of Cap. It is the site of the sugar plantation known as "Habitation Le Normand de Mezy", known for several slaves who led the rebellion against the French.^[8]